A Day at the Office
by Airlia de Lioncourt
Summary: *Finished*This is a rework of an original. Kara wishes her boss away after a rough day at the office. This is not a J/S (read the sequal when I get it reposted - evil new rules). Nor is it a J/Kara (I'm sure J has enough problems)
1. A little note before we begin

AN: What can I say? This was my first ever fanfic and I couldn't help revisiting it and tweaking some things here and there. The notion came on me in work funnily enough (^_~) I hope I have actually managed to improve this, at least a little and as always please R&R with constructive criticisms, positive feedback, encouragement, general rambling, you can even flame me if you like - fire pretty and it burns away evidence (^_~) 


	2. Rough day, dear?

Disclaimer: as much as I wish I own the labyrinth and all its characters, I don't. Please don't sue, I'm a student and I have nothing. Although I have added a few characters of my own.  
  
  
  
Kara rushed around her small bedroom, knocking things over and tripping over things she should have picked up days ago in a desperate bid to get ready for work. In the background the 'Labyrinth' soundtrack blared out of her hi-fi. The CD was currently living there. Lately she'd needed Labyrinth joy. She sang along with 'as the world falls down', finally finding the black shirt she was looking for. She pulled it on, quickly ran a brush through her long black hair, switched off the hi-fi, grabbed her bag and keys and was out the front door.  
  
"Oh god, I'm going to be late! Again!" she exclaimed, breaking into a run as she looked at her watch. She worked part time in the offices of a small publishing company, doing data processing work mostly. Coma inducing as it was it paid the rent and helped to get her through university. Still in a panic borne mostly from having slept through her alarm - a rare enough occurrence in itself but given that it had happed the past three mornings it was slightly unsettling - she ran all the way there, up the three fights of stairs and landed in her chair five minutes past her starting time.  
  
Well that's not too bad, she thought, congratulating herself on what had to be a record run. She was sure she'd get her breathing back to normal in about a day or so. Midway though her mental 'well done!' a shadow fell over her desk and she inwardly cringed.  
  
"Late again, Grey."  
  
She looked up at her boss, Arron de Winter. "Sir, its only five minutes. My bus was late," she lied. He looked down at her, wearing much the same expression she imagined he used on insects. He had a knack for making people feel tiny, insignificant and worthless. Worthless was his favourite.  
  
"This is the third time Grey."  
  
Another annoying habit of his - referring to you only by your second name. She suppressed a sigh and answered. "Yes I know sir. What can I say, public transport just isn't up to scratch anymore." She tried smiling up at him. Look I'm sweet and innocent and you don't want to fire me, she willed. She couldn't afford to get fired. Well she had some money saved but finding a new job was always hard and she needed a job to support herself. Landing this one had been a struggle she had no desire to repeat.  
  
"Don't let it happen again." He snapped and stormed off.  
  
Wonder if the aliens forgot to remove his anal probe, she thought. She began working, humming 'As the World Falls Down' to herself.  
  
It was 11:50 am when Arron started to punish her for her lateness. Well it could have been her lateness or it could have been her back talk yesterday, but really when he marched into the office demanding to know where his package was, how else was she supposed to respond? He came to her desk and dropped a pile about half his height on her desk. Despite the fact that he was 5ft 9 it was still an impressive pile.  
  
"I need you to get through this before you leave today." He told her before stalking off. Today was Saturday so she was in until five pm but even so she knew just by looking at the pile that it would take her well into the night to get through it. She suspected some of the other employees work would be diminished today but there wasn't much she could do about it. As an act of defiance she went for lunch and when she came back she could have sworn the pile had grown.  
  
***  
  
It was six thirty and the pile was finally starting to look smaller. She leaned back in her chair and stretched. Everyone but herself and Arron had gone home for the night. God knows what the hell he had do in his office but whatever it was, it wasn't so urgent that he couldn't keep coming out to walk by her desk every fifteen minuets. She had spent the entire day thinking of ways to kill him, dismissing each as too messy, too complicated, too likely to get caught when at around three she'd started entertaining the possibility of just wishing him away. She wondered if the Goblin King would come for a grown man who simply managed to act like a child. She stared at his office door, tapping her pen against the desk. The door opened and her eyes fell immediately back to the file in front of her.  
  
"I hope you're not slacking off." He said. He really did sound like a petulant child.  
  
"Nope, should be done in no time," she answered, aware of the hard edge in her voice. He frowned at her.  
  
"I don't care if it takes all night, I need them processed for tomorrow." She resisted the temptation to start yelling that all sane and normal people took Sunday off so there was no possible reason he could need them for tomorrow and she'd been dealing with them all day so she knew they weren't that important anyway. She settled instead for sticking her tongue out at his now closed door. It didn't bring her as much satisfaction as telling him what he could do with the files in front of her, but it was all she was going to get.  
  
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now," she muttered. Just saying the words made her feel instantly better and she smiled to herself. Even if it didn't really mean anything, outside of storybooks and movies.  
  
There was a loud crash from Arron's office.  
  
What the hell?  
  
She got up and approached his door cautiously. If he had just fallen and she saw him flat on his ass she'd probably be here till tomorrow morning with the amount of work she'd need to do to sooth his shattered ego. She reached the door and counted to ten before she opened it. Plenty of time for him to get back on his feet.  
  
The office was empty.  
  
"Oh no! I didn't! I couldn't possibly have!"  
  
"Oh, but you did," Stated a smooth voice behind her.  
  
She spun round, almost falling over in the process. Yeah, real graceful, she thought as she grabbed the doorframe to steady herself.  
  
He was leaning against her desk, watching her with a cool expression on his face. His blonde hair, startling in the dim light. Not exactly as he was in the movie...well of course not...David Bowie wasn't the Goblin King after all.  
  
"Oh my god! Not happening! No way is this happening!"  
  
He laughed, standing gracefully and moving towards her. He placed one hand on the doorframe next to her head and leaned slightly in to her.  
  
"I can assure you it's all perfectly real." His voice was barley above a whisper.  
  
"Is he...?"  
  
He nodded. She sobered suddenly, straightening a little. "Do I have to go get him?"  
  
"Well those are the rules if you want him back."  
  
She crossed her arms and looked at him steadily. "No, am I under obligation to go get him back. I mean I don't like him very much." Ok maybe that was...unfair but Arron was a grown man and, unlike a child, he could take care of himself. Couldn't he?  
  
He smiled at her, "No you don't have to as such, but there is a forfeit for not going."  
  
She chewed her lip, struggling with her conscience. Actually if she was going to be totally honest she was struggling with the thoughts of what a forfeit might entail, what would happen when Arron was discovered missing and everyone knew she'd been the last person to see him alive and accepting that this whole thing was happening in the first place and she wasn't suffering some sort of delusion bought on by low grade company coffee.  
  
It wouldn't be right to leave him and you know it! The very annoying voice in her head screamed at her.  
  
But the guy is such an ass! She argued back.  
  
That's not the point; you got him into this mess now go get him back out. Yikes! That voice sounded like her mother's.  
  
"Oh darn! I can't just leave him there, sorry but I can't. As much as I would like him as a goblin in a land where he can't annoy me anymore, it wouldn't be right." She ranted, still sounding like she was trying to convince herself and not him.  
  
"As you wish." As Jareth spoke the words she realised that she was no longer standing in the office but on the hill at the edge of the labyrinth's entrance.  
  
She looked at the Goblin King.  
  
"You have thirteen hours in which to complete the labyrinth before your baby...er...boss becomes one of us forever. Such a pity" With that he disappeared, leaving her alone, only the sound of his voice echoing in her head to keep her company. She squared her shoulders, stiffened her resolve and tried not to start screaming.  
  
"If I get you out of this you owe me big!" she told the still air. 


	3. Look familiar?

Disclaimer: I do not own the labyrinth, but I do own Airlia and Arron. Don't ask where Brambleworth came from, that may have been a deranged dream.  
  
Note: thanks to Kitten, my best friend in the world coz I keep stealing her best insults.  
  
  
  
She took her first step towards the Labyrinth...and promptly slipped on a loose stone, losing her footing and more or less sliding down the steep hill to the gates at the bottom. She managed to sufficiently recover herself with three stumbles, a skip and a hop to keep from falling completely and retain what little dignity she had left. She straightened, tugging the hem of her shirt and doing her best to look as if nothing had happened. She looked around, taking stalk of her surroundings and trying to figure out her course of action. A small dwarf like figure was dozing against a rock in the sun. Good enough, she thought and started heading towards him.  
  
"Hey!" she called out as she got closer. There was no response. "Hey!" she tried again, louder this time. The figure muttered something but still didn't wake.  
  
Geeze it's like trying to talk to Arron about a pay rise!  
  
Giving up on the shouting she kicked him instead.  
  
"Wha...?" The figure grumbled as he opened his eyes. He looked up at her, frowned, got to his feet and kicked her back.  
  
"Ouch!" She reached down to rub her shin.  
  
"What do you want?" the dwarf demanded.  
  
"I want to get in to the labyrinth." She answered, straightening up again. He looked her up and down.  
  
"Oh, you're one of those is you? What is it about babysitting that leaves so many of you girls in such a state?"  
  
She was confused for a second. Then it dawned on her, "Oh, no he just acts like a child. He's older than me actually." The dwarf looked at her like he suddenly realised she was purple and had a third eye.  
  
"He's my boss," she explained further.  
  
"Well this is a first."  
  
"What? No one's ever wished their boss away?"  
  
"No. No one's ever tried getting them back." She started to giggle. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
"Name's Bramleworth."  
  
"Kara. Can you show me how to get in to the labyrinth, please?" She asked as politely as she could muster, considering this wasn't a quest she was exactly thrilled about.  
  
He snorted, "Course I can girl! Don't see why you want to get in, but that's your business and not mine. Follow me!" With that he stomped off clearly expecting her to follow. She did, wondering why the hell she was anyway. She didn't like Arron, for goodness sake and had often sat weighing up the prison sentence against killing him and decided it was worth it. Still she was getting an adventure in the labyrinth. Brambleworth stopped and indicated the huge gate now standing before her.  
  
"You get in there, missy." He told her, "Mind how you go, and try to keep out of Jareth's way." He called after her, some parting words of advice.  
  
"Like I'll really have a choice," she called back as she walked through the gate. She found herself facing the same long passage that Sarah had in the movie. I wonder if it really was just a movie.  
  
With that thought she began walking forward, looking for the same hidden break in the wall that Sarah had gone through. It wasn't long before she found it. 


	4. Maybe not

Disclaimer: Don't own labyrinth or the goblin king. All other non-movie related characters are the product of my deranged imagination and I cannot be held accountable for their actions due to the court ruling that I am insane.  
  
  
  
She didn't find herself in the stone courtyard as she had expected. Instead she found herself on a barren piece of land facing the entrance of a cave.  
  
Damn! And I thought I'd simply have to stick with the movie! Should have known better!  
  
She sighed and, with a fatalistic shrug, went forward into the cave entrance. It was dark inside and smelled of dampness and mould and something else Kara wasn't sure she really wanted to contemplate. The floor at the entrance was smooth and slopped down into almost complete darkness but the occasional torch set in the stone walls offered some light. She thanked whoever had the presence of mind to put them there, not caring if the someone was Jareth.  
  
She followed the path down, pausing long enough to take a torch from the wall, having no desire to find herself in absolute darkness if the line of torches did not continue. Looking around she found the path she was walking to appear consistent and utterly unchanging. There were a few loose stones but that was about all the scenery on offer.  
  
After what felt like eternity of walking and occasionally stumbling, the passage she was in branched of in three separate directions. One went straight ahead and the other two went off at angles on either side. She looked about her for a clue as to which one she should take.  
  
Each passage had a carving above it. One looked like fire, one was a tree and one simply had three wavy lines.  
  
"Which tells me what?" she muttered into the gloom. "Ok, need to think. Well we have fire, a tree and some squiggles." She tapped her foot, "So one takes me to fire or someplace really hot. One takes me to a forest and the third..."  
  
"Do you know it's a sign of madness to talk to yourself," squeaked a voice from somewhere near her ankle. She jumped, momentarily startled, before looking down. A mouse sat on the ground, indifferently cleaning its whiskers.  
  
"Some would say it's a sign of madness to believe a mouse just spoke." She said.  
  
"Well I did so you must be mad," it started to giggle in a high-pitched, musical way. She shrugged. It was entirely possible the mouse was right. Maybe she was in a mental hospital suffering form sever delusions and trapped in her own insane world. Maybe she just ate some bad Chinese food.  
  
She shrugged. Whatever was going on, she was here now so she may as well just get on with it. "I'm Kara. Do you know which way I should go? I'm trying to get to the castle."  
  
"I'm Susan," the mouse said. "One takes you to the heart of the forges, not pleasant. One leads to the forest and the other will drop you in the river. The very cold, very strong river."  
  
"Oh. Think I'll take the forest, thanks." She started to move off before some agitated squeaking stopped her. She looked back down at the mouse.  
  
"Don't leave me!" It squeaked. "You can't! I'm afraid of the dark and it's taken me days to get this far." Kara sighed and crouched low to the ground. She held out a hand, "Come on then." The little mouse scampered over and ran up her arm, settling lightly on her shoulder.  
  
Kara stood and proceeded to go into the passage marked with a tree, thinking this was too easy. The clues hadn't even been that difficult to figure out. The passage was long and seemed to swallow the light from her torch.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Susan asked her.  
  
"Hear what?" Kara responded absently.  
  
"That," Susan hissed.  
  
Kara stopped walking and tilted her head. Straining her ears to listen.  
  
Then she heard it.  
  
Or though she did.  
  
The sound of something moving behind them.  
  
"Any idea what that is?" Kara asked.  
  
"No," Susan squeaked. She sounded terrified.  
  
And she had good reason to Kara discovered a second later as something lunged at her from the shadows. She threw herself of to the ground purely on instinct and it barley missed her. Susan's small claws dug into her shirt in an effort to stay on her perch. Kara dropped the torch, but it thankfully stayed lit.  
  
The thing turned and Kara got her first real look at it. Her first thought was snake with legs as her mind made a desperate effort at switching gears to make sense of what she was looking at. Then she realised. Only the top half was snake like, a head on a long thin body with no shoulders arms or neck, but the bottom half was closer to wildcat though it was only the hind legs and tail, which tapered into a very threatening looking tip.  
  
"Which Muppets reject would that be?" Kara said, mostly to herself. It hissed at her and she flinched, pushing herself slowly on to her knees and never taking her eyes off it. Unfortunately it was returning the favour with a gaze that held three little words. You are food.  
  
Kara's fingers groped blindly for the torch and she missed four times before her hand closed around it and she was able to draw it to herself. It was about that time the thing lunged for her again and she screamed, waving the torch wildly. She felt it connect and was momentarily set off balance as the thing wailed in pain, falling at her feet. Not wasting any time Kara jumped over it and began running.  
  
For a while the only sound was her laboured breathing and the sound of her feet slapping against the ground, but when the minutes passed and that's all she heard she began to slow to a jog.  
  
"Do you think its following?" she asked Susan.  
  
"No, but keep going anyway."  
  
"What the hell was that?" Kara asked.  
  
"I have no idea. Never seen one before."  
  
They both lapsed into silence and Kara continued forward.  
  
After a time the passage opened into a wide round space. Kara just had time to take in the other passage opposite her before her torch went out.  
  
Susan started to squeak in panic, trying to burrow into Kara's shoulder.  
  
"Hey! Quit it! You're fine, just hold still, alright?" Kara instructed but after the encounter with the demented snake thing she really couldn't blame her. Susan stopped attempting to burrow into Kara's shoulder but Kara could still feel her trebling violently.  
  
"How are you enjoying the game so far?" asked an all too familiar voice behind her. 


	5. So what exactly is it called?

*Well this just gets better and better*  
  
"Aren't you kind of early?" she asked. "I mean it's not like I've really done anything yet." Her torch relit itself revealing a frowning Jareth.  
  
"That's not true," he countered. "You just dealt with a...uh..."  
  
"You don't know what it's called?" Kara said in disbelief.  
  
"I don't think anyone does."  
  
Was she hearing things or did he sound apologetic?  
  
"Well apart from the...whatever...I haven't done anything," she muttered.  
  
"Hmm...well I suppose that's true," he conceded and was gone before she could blink.  
  
"Does he do stuff like that a lot?" she asked the trembling mouse on her shoulder.  
  
"Yes, quite often," she replied.  
  
Kara moved forward resuming the journey at a brisk pace.  
  
"Hey, slow down. You'll throw me off!" complained her tiny passenger.  
  
"Oh...sorry." She slowed a little, but not much. After that thing she had no wish to stay in these caves any longer than she had to. The passage they were now in was lower than the first and she had to crouch low to get through it but it wasn't long before they could see light up ahead.  
  
Yes! Nearly there! She thought.  
  
"Hold on," she told Susan and began to walk faster. They burst forth at the edge of a fairytale forest. The trees were tall and green, Kara couldn't even begin to guess the height of some and there were those that had trunks she couldn't have wrapped her arms around if there had been ten of her. Looking up at the canopy the leaves made just over her head she couldn't imagine the leaves ever turning brown and gold with autumn's descent. The grass beneath her feet was springy and seemed to invite her to lie down and forget everything. Here and there scatterings of wild flowers added splashes of vivid colour to the picture. "It's beautiful," she breathed, drawing the scent of cool, clean air into her lungs. Such a contrast to the city she was used to!  
  
"Isn't it though," said a strong male voice to her right that she didn't recognise. Her back went ramrod straight and she stood there trying to figure out if she should be worried or relieved by that.  
  
"In this place it's hard to say," the voice replied with a barley concealed undercurrent of laughter.  
  
She turned apprehensively to look at him. He was standing under the shade of a tall oak, on her left. It was impossible to see how she had missed him when she emerged from the cave. His blue eyes twinkled with mirth and he crossed his arms and leaned casually against the trunk. His dark hair was slightly long and fell into his eyes and he was wearing breeches and a white flowing shirt opened almost to his waist she noted as her eyes moved over him.  
  
Period drama reject, she wondered.  
  
She was about to open her mouth and say something to that effect but she never got the chance  
  
"Hunter!" squeaked Susan, sounding angry and indignant. Kara blinked twice, but it was the only sign of surprise she gave at a mouse sounding anything. "Why you...you...oh I'm so angry, if I could I'd...I'd bite your nose you big bully!"  
  
This sent the man now identified as Hunter into peals of laughter and Kara was hard pushed not to start grinning herself. It was hard not to find an angry mouse threatening to bite your nose funny.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked Susan instead.  
  
"He's the reason I was in the caves! He knows I hate it there and he just disappeared and left me!" If mice could pout this one would have been doing so.  
  
Kara arched an eyebrow at Hunter as if to say, 'well'?  
  
Hunter came over and scratched Susan affectionately behind the ear. "I'm sorry Sue, it was a joke! I really honestly meant to get back sooner but..." he paused and shot a glance at Kara before continuing, "something important came up. I am sorry. Do you forgive me?" In response to his little speech Susan bit his finger. He yelled, shaking his hand hard in an attempt to shake her off but she hung on grimly. He began jumping up and down.  
  
"Get her off me! Get her off!"  
  
This time the situation was so comical Kara couldn't control her laughter and collapsed on the ground in a fit of giggles, unable to stop. Susan eventually let go and scurried across the grass to hide behind Kara's shoe. She poked her head over the top long enough to stick her tongue out at Hunter, before ducking back down.  
  
Hunter snarled in Susan's direction and Kara's laughter stopped abruptly, partly because of Hunter's fierce expression and partly because she'd just noticed the two small fangs in his mouth. Her eyes went wide with shock and she emitted a small gasp. He turned to her frowning.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" he demanded.  
  
"You're a vampire?" she said not quite believing it.  
  
"Yes, I am," he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  
  
"Sorry, it's just...well I've never...we don't really have vampires where I come from," she finished sounding a little lost for the first time since this had all started.  
  
He snorted, "Of course you do, you just don't know it." He smiled mischievously, "In fact I could name a few you would probably recognise." She looked at him, surprise registering on her face for the second time. He laughed.  
  
"Wait a minute, its day light! How come you aren't a pile of dust?" She demanded.  
  
He rolled his eyes, "Is that silly little myth still floating about out there!" He said derisively. "Let's get one thing straight, sunlight, holy objects, silver and stakes through the heart, all the product of deranged authors on earth. Ok?"  
  
Kara simply nodded her head, not really sure what to say to that.  
  
Susan crawled from her hiding place and back up Kara's arm.  
  
"Now do you forgive me?" Hunter asked her.  
  
She sniffed, "I suppose so."  
  
"I'm glad that's settled," said Kara. "I really should get moving again."  
  
"Oh, where are you going?" asked Hunter, suddenly interested.  
  
"To the castle, I have to...uh...save my boss," she answered bashfully. Aware how absurd her quest was.  
  
"Your...boss?" he said slowly, obviously finding that difficult to swallow.  
  
She sighed, "Yes, it's a long story."  
  
Hunter seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, staring at something unseen.  
  
"I think I'll come with you," he announced suddenly. "There forest is no place for unescorted young maidens to be wondering."  
  
Kara just looked at him, slightly bemused and not entirely convinced.  
  
"Its ok, you can trust him," announced Susan, "Even if he is overly fond of bad practical jokes."  
  
Kara shrugged, "Guess I'll take your word for it. Given my current circumstances I don't even see why I should find it strange."  
  
Hunter beamed at them both. "Great, there's nothing better than spending time in the company of two such wonderful girls." He winked.  
  
Kara rolled her eyes. "That's all very well for you, but apparently we have to spend time in the company of a walking cliché!"  
  
Susan laughed. Hunter glowered.  
  
The three of them entered the forest together.  
  
***  
  
In the castle Jareth's boots were making very firm, sharp clicks on the floor of a marbled hall as he strode along it with determination and purpose. He reached a set of double doors and threw them open with a resounding crash. A small hunched goblin fell from its perch on a tall ladder where it been re-shelving the libraries books (not an easy task since the library was fond of changing its shelving system whenever it got depressed which was often - it felt underused as libraries are wont to), landing with a muffled 'oomph!' as all the air went out of its small body.  
  
"Ludovic!" Jareth imperiously summoned the goblin.  
  
It took Ludovic three tries before he could speak. "Yes, your highness?" he enquired politely, still on the floor.  
  
"You know the half snake half cat creature that lives in the Caves of Transition?"  
  
"Why, yes sir, of course," Ludovic was now scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off. He promptly dropped back down to the ground, on his knees this time because he'd lost his glasses when he fell.  
  
"What's it called?" Jareth asked, frowning.  
  
"I...um...it's a...uh...you know, I really have no idea," Ludovic answered pausing his search I a vain effort to think. "I could look in the books though?" He offered helpfully.  
  
"Yes...well...see to it then!" Jareth snapped, tugging at the hem of the silver frock coat he'd put on before coming to the library. The door slammed as he left and Ludovic jumped. A sharp crunching sound informing him he'd just found his glasses. 


	6. Monsters and philosophy?

They had been walking the dirt path for hours. Unlike the cave there were visible changes to the route and the scenery was more pleasant but still Kara was beginning to wonder if there was an end to the forest around them.  
  
"Oh, there is. Don't worry about that," Hunter assured her. The first thing he had said since he had decided to accompany them.  
  
"So...vampires, in the labyrinth. I didn't know that," Kara said uncertainly.  
  
"Well, not originally," Hunter said. "I'm really just visiting. My own land is actually north of Jareth's borders." He looked back at her and smiled.  
  
Susan had eventually gotten tired and crawled into Kara's trouser pocket and promptly fallen asleep. Kara had to admit that she preferred that to listening to Susan muttering the occasional curse at Hunter. The last one had been particularly graphic but even so Kara couldn't quite figure out how the pogo stick fit in and she really didn't want to.  
  
Loosing herself to her own thoughts, Kara had failed to notice that Hunter had stopped dead on the path and as a result she walked straight into his back.  
  
"Hunter..." she began uncertainly.  
  
"I think you had better keep back," he whispered tensely. Ignoring the warning in his voice she took a step to the side and continued to move forward.  
  
"Look, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I've managed so far and..." Her eyes settled on the thing in front of her. It was huge, easily dwarfing her, and its round body was covered with coarse grey hair. Its eyes were small and yellow but it's most prominent feature had to be its extremely large, extremely sharp teeth. They drew her attention away from everything else.  
  
"I think you had better handle this and I'll just keep back," she amended hurriedly as she slowly stepped away from the beast. Whatever force governing their lives at that moment decided not to play fair because it was that moment Susan chose that moment to wake up and poke her head over the top of Kara's pocket.  
  
And start screaming.  
  
Kara flinched. Who thought a mouse would have such a great set of lungs! She thought, right before - oh my God we're going to die now.  
  
The beast roared and lunged for them and Kara watched it come, frozen on the spot by shock and fear. What felt like an eternity later but was in reality only seconds, Hunter's body slammed into hers. The three of them were sent tumbling down the hill through the trees, narrowly avoiding hitting a few by mere inches before they finally came to rest at the bottom, in a small hollow. Thankfully, Kara noted, they hadn't been followed.  
  
Hunter's body was pinning hers beneath him on the ground, their legs tangled together, his chest pressed against hers, pelvic bone pushing against pelvic bone. It wasn't an exactly comfortable position. Hunter shifted, bringing his arms to rest on either side of her head and he used that to leverage himself up, taking some of his weight off her but he didn't get up - not right away like she'd expected him to. This close she noticed for the first time that there were tiny flecks of violet around his pupils.  
  
Was she still breathing? It didn't feel like it.  
  
Suddenly his lips had covered hers, kissing her deeply. At first she was shocked. She should have realised by the tilt of his head, the way he moved to avoid hitting her nose with his but she hadn't. The pressure of his lips on hers was gentle, not asking, not taking...waiting.  
  
Her eyes were closing. This actually felt pleasant. She hadn't been the recipient of many kisses in her short life time but this was the first she actually felt she was enjoying, and wanted more of it. Gradually her lips softened to his, and she felt his tongue skim along her bottom lip.  
  
"Well, well. Isn't this cosy," Jareth's voice rang out mockingly. Her eyes flew open and annoyingly enough she could feel her face getting warm and knew she was blushing. Why? She was an adult. She could kiss whom she wanted to. She'd done nothing wrong! Had she?  
  
Hunter on the other hand didn't seem to be suffering any embarrassing attack of modesty or conscience and took his time about moving. He got slowly to his feet and simply held a hand out to her. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet, still feeling guilty for a reason she couldn't define.  
  
"Well, Prince Hunter, it is a pleasure to see you again." Jareth greeted the other man. He was leaning against one of the trees, part of his face in shadow. "I take it you still find your walks in my forest pleasant?" he asked raising an eyebrow and not quite managing to suppress the smirk that was pulling on his mouth.  
  
Hunter bowed low, "Your highness."  
  
Kara was about to say something but stopped and frowned as Jareth's words caught up with her brain. "Prince!" she exclaimed, almost chocking on the word. She couldn't explain that either. "You're a Prince?"  
  
Hunter glanced over his shoulder at her, as bewildered as she was at her tone. He nodded once and Kara felt dazed. The unexplained reactions were beginning to annoy her as well as frighten her. "You never said," she murmured weakly.  
  
He shrugged. "I didn't think it was important and it didn't exactly come up in the conversation."  
  
Jareth looked from one to the other and began to laugh. "I just thought I'd let you know that you're down to eight hours." He stated pleasantly.  
  
"Eight! Does this place just suck time away! No way has it been five hours! To get this far? But that hardly seems like any progress at all!"  
  
"I'm afraid it has, but the rules don't really apply here," he answered mildly, before vanishing again.  
  
"Damn! I guess we better get back up to the path." Kara said, resigned to a long and possibly pointless trek.  
  
"We can't," Hunter said.  
  
"What do you mean can't?"  
  
Susan wriggled out of her pocket and back up her arm. "Because this place is constantly shifting, it won't be there anymore. It will have changed simply because we left it." She explained.  
  
"That sounds dangerously philosophical," Kara was sullen. "To say we can't go back to the path we left because our leaving it changed it so it isn't our path anymore, not the one we were travelling and knew. Am I supposed to be learning from this?" She scuffed her toe in the dirt.  
  
Hunter chose to ignore the question altogether. "I'm afraid we'll have to go through the forest," He told her instead. 


	7. Killer salad?

"Why do you not sound happy about that?" Kara asked.  
  
"Because the forest can be dangerous without a path. Hell it's dangerous even if you do have a path!" He took her hand and pulled her reluctant body after his. "This place looks beautiful but you have no idea what kind of creatures live in here. The kinds of creatures I was hoping to avoid."  
  
"I have a feeling that I probably don't want to know," she said grimly. Not if a vampire wants to avoid them, but you're going to tell me anyway, she added silently.  
  
Right on cue Hunter began to speak as if he hadn't heard her, "There's the fireys. They usually pop up when you need it the least and start trying to remove appendages. That thing on the path was a morantian, vicious as hell and always hungry, but they are slow eaters so that's not a pleasant way to go. Not to mention the werewolves."  
  
"Werewolves? First I get vampires, now werewolves?" she said in disbelief.  
  
Hunter nodded. "Yes. Cunning bastards and cruel, well some are cruel, some are out and out sadists. Don't worry too much about the werewolves though. Vampires and werewolves tend to stay out of each others way." Most of the time, he added silently to himself and hoped that on this occasion he was right.  
  
"Oh and why might that be?" she enquired, trying to ignore the warm tingling feeling she was getting from his hand holding hers. She was also trying to ignore the voice in her head that was wondering why he was still holding her hand anyway. Her lips felt slightly swollen from their earlier kiss.  
  
"Snobbery mostly," Hunter continued. "Vampires think they're better than werewolves, werewolves think they're better than vampires. The two species' just can't get along. Well so far. There was a time when things..." He stopped suddenly as if becoming aware he was talking out loud.  
  
"And where do you stand?" she asked, partly because she was curious to know and partly just to get him talking again. The last thing she wanted was for her mind to keep drifting back to the fact that he'd kissed her when he seemed so wholly unaffected by it.  
  
He looked over his shoulder and flashed a brief smile at her. "Personally I don't give a damn about the whole thing. Bores me to tears. Have you ever had to sit through vampire history lesions as a child?"  
  
"No not often," she responded her voice dripping sarcasm.  
  
Hunter either didn't notice or didn't care. "Well trust me there's a ton of the stuff and about ninety percent of it is werewolf and vampire wars! Usually over the most petty things!" He launched into an impersonation I'm a whining tone of voice, "You bit my sister! You mauled my human servant! On and on, just like that! It's ridiculous!"  
  
I wonder if this is what they call culture shock, Kara mused.  
  
They were weaving their way quickly in and out of trees, lead by Hunter who seemed to have at least some vague notion of where they were going. Which was good because Kara couldn't keep track of where they were or where they had been or where they were heading, so she was content to let Hunter drag her along by the hand.  
  
Should have just gone home when I had the chance! She told herself not for the first time.  
  
"You do know where you're going, right?" She asked after a while. Susan was asleep again and she was beginning to get tired of the silence that had fallen between them once more. Plus she was starting to feel hungry. Lunch time seemed like it had been days away.  
  
"Of course I know where I'm going! I've come through these woods a thousand times!" He snapped.  
  
"Ok, I just thought we'd been here before, that's all," she muttered. Geeze, note to self, the species doesn't matter *all* men are touchy about their sense of direction.  
  
I wonder if he meant to kiss me, she wondered a second later and for the millionth time.  
  
He stopped suddenly and turned to face her. He closed the distance between them and slowly lowered his mouth to hers. Kara felt like the whole world had begun to slow down, she didn't even breathe. His lips brushed lightly against hers and then he increased the pressure. Her eyes drifted closed and tremors of anticipation surged through her body. He pulled away, breaking the kiss.  
  
"Convinced," he whispered before turning away to resume walking.  
  
Kara stood, momentarily stunned before following him. She tripped on something and cursed softly as she almost fell. The something shifted, sliding against her ankle and she froze wandering if the something was an animal. The movement made her think of a snake. She started moving back slowly, in case it was a snake and it was angry about being tripped over but she didn't get far before it wrapped itself around her ankle. She lost her balance and with a small cry she fell forward, landing heavily on the forest floor. Her right arm was underneath her and trying to push herself back up she lost her balance again as she discovered her wrist hurt. She emitted a small gasp, flexing her arm were she lay. It wasn't serious, she knew because she'd hurt her wrist like that before in high school.  
  
Hunter turned round and frowned at her. "Why are you on the ground?"  
  
She didn't answer, the thing was still coiling around her ankle and by now she was quite convinced it was a snake. However looking down she could see she was mistaken. A thick, green vine was coiled around her ankle and, to her disbelief, was making its way up her leg. She rolled over and sat up. "Hunter, what is that?" she asked, pointing at it as it continued to wind itself around her. She leaned forward and tried pulling it off but it just wound itself tighter. She could feel her leg going numb and the beginnings of pins and needles in her foot. "You never said anything about killer plants!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Well this is just great," he muttered.  
  
"Tell me about it," Kara snapped, still struggling with the vine that had now reached her waist and was starting to drag her along the ground. She leaned back, digging her elbows into the ground and tried pulling herself against the plant but it was stronger. I'm going to be killed by salad! Her mind screamed in disbelief.  
  
"I could use a little help, if it's not too much trouble!" She yelled sarcastically. She fell all the way back as the vine tugged at her sharply. She could feel small stones digging into her that she hadn't known were there earlier. Her shirt rode up and some of the stones dug into her exposed skin. She could feel the small cuts they were making.  
  
"I'm working on it," he retorted. She couldn't see what he was doing, he'd moved too far from her.  
  
"What do you mean you're working on it?" she demanded. The vine was fast moving and had now wrapped itself around her arms, holding them in place and was winding round her chest, still pulling her forward, towards something. She felt it tighten and begin to restrict her breathing and she began to struggle wildly but all she managed to do was flop around like a fish out of water.  
  
"Hunter, if you have a plan, now is good!" Her voice cracked at the end of that statement as panic started to really take hold of her. Each breath was becoming harder than the last and the vine was still squeezing. It was going to crush her, she realised with horror. Her breathing was coming in laboured gasps and grey spots were dancing in front of her eyes. "Hunter...." She managed to say before passing out altogether.  
  
A second later and she would have seen Hunter approaching, holding a lit branch in his hand. He'd had trouble getting it lit with what was available and he cursed himself when he saw Kara was unconscious. Not wasting any more time he pressed the burning branch to the vine and something screamed. A high-pitched waling sound that echoed through the whole forest. The vine's grip on her body slackened as it recoiled from the flame. It began retreating back. Once or twice Hunter decided it wasn't moving fast enough so he brandished his torch at it some more. It finally retreated all the way back to wherever it had come from.  
  
Kara lay on the ground, not moving and Hunter dropped down beside her, leaning close to catch the faint....frighteningly faint sound of her breathing. He lifted her body and, cradling her against him, he shook her with as much force as he dared, which wasn't much at all.  
  
"Wake up," he whispered, brushing stray strands of hair back from her face. Her eye lashes fluttered. Now that the vine had been taken away her breathing was stronger. She moaned and came fully awake in his arms.  
  
"Are you ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned.  
  
"Next time, could you make the rescue a tinsy bit quicker?" she smiled weakly, trying to make light of the situation.  
  
A very sleepy Susan poked her head from Kara's pocket. "What's going on," she mumbled.  
  
"I can't believe you slept through that!" Kara exclaimed.  
  
"Slept through what?" asked the confused mouse.  
  
"Creepers," Hunter explained grimly.  
  
"Uh oh." Said Susan and Kara got the feeling there was something she wasn't being told.  
  
"What?" She demanded.  
  
Hunter and Susan exchanged looks. "Creepers are usually set up as traps," Hunter explained.  
  
"So Jareth..."  
  
"No," Hunter cut her off. "Jareth isn't fond of creepers himself. Only werewolves use them."  
  
"Oh. If there's a point, please explain."  
  
"The point is, I don't think that was an accident and we really should get moving." Hunter swung her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing.  
  
"Put me down!" She protested, "I can walk!"  
  
"I'm not going to walk," he said and broke into a run. She could see why he was carrying her. It was almost nothing for him to do so and she would never have been able to keep up with him on her own. He was moving so fast the trees were little more than a blur. Soon the edge of the forest came into sight and she breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Hold that thought, sweetheart," Hunter said grimly, "We're not out of the woods yet." It was then she saw the two dark silhouettes of people up ahead. 


	8. Wolves and blood

Kara turned her head; taking in as much of the forest as she was able, positioned as she was in Hunter's arms. She caught glimpses of greys and browns that flashed in the corner of her eye, making her wonder if she had seen them at all. Wolves?  
  
"Hunter, I think they're hemming us in," she said quietly. She couldn't be one hundred percent sure the shapes were werewolves but she figured if Hunter was worried she probably should be too.  
  
"I think you're right," He ground out. Before they reached the forest's edge there were two wolves on either side, running close enough to touch, three behind that kept snapping their teeth as close to Hunter as they dared, and four men had gathered up ahead. Kara could only assume they were wolves in their human from and she wrapped her arms more firmly around Hunter's shoulders. They were a little outnumbered to put it mildly and Hunter was forced to stop running. He set her gently on her feet and pushed her slightly and firmly behind him, shielding her with his body. His hands were balled into fists and his mouth was set in a tense line. Frightened, Kara gripped the material of his shirt so hard her knuckles were going white. The wolves circled but didn't come any closer.  
  
One of the men came forward. He was tall with long black hair that curled around his shoulders and yellow eyes that were feral and cold and definitely weren't human. He bowed mockingly before Hunter, but his eyes never left Hunter's for a second. "Vampire Prince, welcome." He said in greeting. Hunter didn't return the bow.  
  
"I am here with the Goblin King's permission. Let me and mine pass unharmed." The man moved forward, stalking round them till he stood at Kara's back. She tensed as she felt his hand skim lightly over her hair.  
  
"You are, but the girl is not. She's trying to complete the Labyrinth, therefore she is fair game. Leave her here and you shall pass."  
  
"The girl is mine!" Hunter spat at the man, "You can not claim her!"  
  
Kara wondered at the formal tone of voice from Hunter. He sounded stiff, like he was reading rehearsed lines from a page. She wondered if this was how all vampires and werewolves behaved with each other or if it was because Hunter was a prince.  
  
The man had moved again, almost as if he couldn't bear to be still for any length of time and he was standing in front of Hunter again. "By what right do you claim her?"  
  
Hunter grit his teeth. He hadn't actually claimed Kara in any way that the wolves would understand. Well more importantly, not in anyway their leader would understand. Kisses weren't enough to protect her and the only true way of claiming her as his, he suspected, would be objectionable to her. Not to mention there were consequences he wouldn't be able to explain to her now. He needed to mark her now if they were going to get through this and he needed to make it look like it had happened before.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he pulled her forward, turning her to face him. He gripped her arms gently and looked into her eyes, willing her to understand what he was about to do. "Kara, I'm sorry." He whispered.  
  
Oh god, he's going to leave me with them, Kara screamed in her head and tried not to let her fear show. After all, she attempted to convince herself, it's not like he owes me anything. It's not like he said he was here to play protector. He doesn't even know me that well.  
  
He leaned to towards her and startled she almost pulled away from him, but his grip on her shoulders kept her still. She felt the brush of his lips on her neck and then the pressure of his fangs against her skin preceding the sharp sensation of his fangs breaking through the skin. She gasped, shocked by what he had just done and amazed that it didn't actually hurt. He pulled her body tight to his and she closed her eyes, unexpected pleasure washing through her body, making her skin tingle. A moment later he broke away from her and she wanted to cry out, pull him back. She felt like she'd lost something.  
  
"By right of blood," he said to the werewolf. Kara leaned against him feeling slightly dazed and she didn't really take his words in. Hunter was supporting her weight against his chest and silently thanking whoever was listening that she hadn't started screaming.  
  
The man bowed again, "Very well your highness," he said, bitterness evident in his voice. He signalled to the wolves and they slunk off in to the forest, bodies low to the ground. The other men disappeared as well, heads bowed.  
  
The man who was obviously the leader turned to leave but he paused and spoke to Hunter, "Don't think you'll keep her safe forever." With that promise made, he was gone too.  
  
In the short time the exchange took Kara was already feeling better, her thoughts clearer and she stood back from Hunter. She pulled her hand back and slapped him with all the strength she had, her other hand on her neck.  
  
"You bit me!"  
  
"If I hadn't they would have taken you!"  
  
"Why?" Hunter wasn't sure if she wanted to know why he'd bitten her or why the wolves would have taken her. After a moments consideration he answered the latter question.  
  
"That was Ulrich, leader of the wolf pack. Three years ago his sister disappeared and he's been blaming me ever since. He can't have open war with me because Jareth would prevent it so he's been looking for something of mine he can take."  
  
"How does that justify you biting me?"  
  
"Well biting you was away of saying you were mine, marking you. Since I'm here with Jareth's permission, for the moment, he couldn't take you because Jareth would interfere but it won't keep you safe forever."  
  
Kara slapped him again, "that was for assuming I belonged to you." She turned and stalked out of the forest. Hunter rubbed his cheek and sighed. He'd known she wouldn't like the insinuation that she belonged to him. So few women in her world did, even if there were women in his kingdom who would kill for what had just passed between them. Sighing again he followed her, wondering when he would be able to explain that what had happened was so much more than a simple bite.  
  
***  
  
In one of the high towers of his castle, Jareth watched the entire exchange in a crystal.  
  
"Now this is getting interesting," He remarked to the figure on the floor. He looked down at Arron whom he'd eventually had to tie and gag to get some peace. After all the pompous demands and such the man had begun to give Jareth a headache. In fact he wasn't impeding Kara's progress at all. Well no more that he had too. He couldn't wait to get rid of the man at his feet. It was always so much easier with children.  
  
And to think, he'd only begun the whole thing because he'd been feeling particularly bored today. Still he hadn't counted on Hunter and it was interesting to watch what was developing between the prince and the girl. He tapped his riding crop against his thigh, wondering how long it would be before Kara learned of the bond that now tied her to the Prince and for both their sakes Jareth hoped that Hunter wouldn't have to bite her again. Every time he did that bond would get stronger and he had seen first hand how unpleasant that could turn out.  
  
Still thinking he returned his gaze to the crystal. 


	9. Brief encounters

Kara stalked a few steps ahead of Hunter. He could easily have caught up with her if he chose to but he didn't need to read minds to know she was angry.  
  
Susan poked her head out of Kara's pocket. "Please don't be mad," the mouse begged her. "I hate it when people are mad. I always feel responsible. Besides it's not Hunter's fault Ulrich is a jerk!"  
  
"He bit me!" Kara snapped, and it was worse than that and she didn't know why. She felt really aware of him at her back even though he was keeping his distance and her hands were almost aching with the desire to turn around and touch him. Absently she rubbed her hands against her legs as if trying to get something off them.  
  
"Well if he hadn't I can bet what the werewolves would be doing to you now would be much worse," Susan calmly informed her.  
  
"Really?" Kara asked, suddenly aware of the true enormity of the danger she may have just been in.  
  
"Really," Susan stated with an authority that worried Kara. She bit her lip, wondering if she had been unfair to Hunter. Maybe he really was just trying to protect me, she thought to herself.  
  
"At last she gets it!" Hunter called out triumphantly behind them. Kara turned and glared at him. Hunter grinned mischievously at her and she had to fight to keep a smile from her own face. What was it about him that made her want to smile anyway?  
  
He closed the distance between them in three easy strides and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry, but I had no choice. Do you forgive me?"  
  
Kara looked at their hands, wondering why it just felt so right that he was touching her. She smiled softly. "I forgive you," she answered, her voice quiet. Then, without meaning to or even understanding how she managed it, she was kissing him. She drew back quickly as though startled and turned back to the path she had been following since they'd left the forest. She focused all her attention on it, acting as if it was the most important thing in the world and trying to ignore the little voice in her head that was demanding to know why she'd just done that. At some point during her let's-stare-at-the-ground-and-pretend-I-didn't-just-embarrass-myslef plan the path branched in two directions. Kara had been thinking more about what she'd just done than about walking and simply begun walking down the left branch.  
  
"You really don't want to go that way!" Hunter advised still a few steps behind her. He could feel her emotions so keenly they may as well be spelled out in ten foot high flaming letters. Though it was kind of adorable when she blushed. He shook his head, reminding himself she was on a quest that would only last a few hours more.  
  
She turned around, cutting into his thoughts when she demanded "Oh and why not? What more could possibly happen to me now?"  
  
"Me!" said a deep and menacing voice behind her. She spun round and came face to chest with a man who towered over her. He was dressed all in black and she had to lean back to see his face, he was so close to her. She took a step back and her gaze met his cold green eyes. They were like pools, deep, chilling and dark in the depths and she felt herself drowning. Though she was actually starting to feel quite pleasant although she wasn't sure why and she certainly couldn't remember why she was standing before this man. In fact she was beginning to wonder why she wasn't bowing because he was obviously powerful and far more important than she. Yes, she should be bowing! No, kneeling, such power demanded such respect and...  
  
Hands gripped her shoulders and jerked her roughly back. Pain biting a little through the cloud she was rapidly becoming lost in. She was dimly aware of someone saying her name but she didn't want to answer, didn't want to be taken away from the man in front of her. His power was a fire she was privileged to be close to and she didn't want to loose it.  
  
Hands spun her roughly around, tearing her away from the dark green pool and she found herself staring into calm depths of blue flecked with violet. There was something terribly familiar about them, something important...  
  
She felt lips crush against hers, almost bruising and the press of fangs. The hands held her closer and the familiarity was overwhelming. Her eyes snapped opened and that was when she realised they had been closed. She blinked twice, confused, feeling like she was coming awake after a long sleep she didn't remember having.  
  
"Are you ok?" Hunter asked his arms still wrapped around her.  
  
She nodded her head slowly. "What just happened?"  
  
He released her and she looked back at the man dressed in black. Not sure why, but convinced it was his fault.  
  
"This is Morgoth," Hunter said coldly. "Keep your distance and never, ever look him in the eyes."  
  
"Oh," she said and instantly averted her gaze, focusing on his chest instead. Susan had retreated back inside her pocket and Kara could feel her trembling.  
  
"Aw, Prince Hunter has a new pet," Morgoth said mockingly. "What a pleasant surprise. We all thought you were never going to get over the last one." Morgoth's eyes fell on the wound on Kara's neck and he grinned. "You've even marked her!" He sounded like a delighted child just presented with a gift.  
  
He came closer to them and Hunter wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Well, little girl, what are you doing playing in the labyrinth with vampires?" he whispered, leaning forward to touch her hair. Kara shuddered, wondering how much trouble she'd be in if she just kicked him.  
  
"Back off," she ground out instead, thinking it was probably safer to do that.  
  
Morgoth laughed and his hand cupped her chin. He tried to force her to look up at him and her head was half tilted before she remembered and quickly closed her eyes.  
  
His hand fell away and he chuckled, "That's not very fair is it? What are you afraid of little girl?"  
  
Kara wanted to open her eyes at him and stare just to take away the mocking tone but she guessed that was probably just what he was hoping for. "Are you always this annoying or am I just special?" She asked amazed at how calm her voice sounded. This man could take over her mind and control her actions and that scared her more than anything else had ever scared her before. Next to her Hunter's body was tense and she didn't exactly find that reassuring.  
  
"You know I could spirit you away faster than you could blink and Prince Charming here couldn't do a thing about it," Morgoth told her, absently studying his nails.  
  
Kara opened her mouth to reply but just then a small bright bundle of flying colour launched itself from nowhere at Morgoth and hit him round the middle. Both fell to the ground, one squealing delightedly and the other making a sound of disgust.  
  
A small girl about half Morgoth's height was wrapped around his waist, hugging him tightly. The girl had short red hair and sparkling green eyes set in pretty elfin features. Everything about the girl just screamed, delicate and cute.  
  
"Squishy! I've been looking all over for you!"  
  
"Squishy..." Kara, repeated disbelievingly, now more confused than she'd been a few minutes ago.  
  
The girl stood up and dusted her self off. She stuck out a hand, "I'm Elena," she introduced herself.  
  
Somewhat bemused Kara took the offered hand, "Kara. But why did you call Morgoth...squishy?"  
  
The girl giggled, "He's my big brother. I like to call him Squishy Hugmore." Then the girl leaned forward to whisper, "This whole big bad thing is just an act. He only does it to annoy our parents."  
  
Morgoth was picking himself up of the ground. He dusted himself of, grumbling the entire time and muttering curses at Elena.  
  
Hunter and Kara exchanged a look and burst out laughing together.  
  
Susan poked her head out of Kara's pocket, "Just wait till the rest of the Labyrinth gets wind of this!"  
  
Morgoth's face was getting redder by the minute. "You know...I...uh...just remembered there's a curse I'm supposed to be working now...so I'd better go and...uh...see to that." With that he turned and ran down the path.  
  
"Well it was nice meeting you," Elena chirped, looking after her brother wistfully, "and I thought we were going to have ever so much fun". She shrugged before calling out, "Squishy, wait!" and running after her brother who increased his speed in a desperate effort to get away. Hunter and Kara collapsed into a laughing fit again and needed ten minutes to recover.  
  
"One of the most terrifying sorcerers in the labyrinth and his sister calls him squishy hugmore!" Hunter said through the laughter. He turned and their eyes met, he stopped laughing abruptly. Had she been that lovely five minutes ago? He shook his head but he couldn't get rid of the thought and continued to stare. Slowly, he cupped the side of her face, as if afraid any sudden movement would make her disappear, and brushed his lips lightly against hers. Maybe biting her was the worst thing in the world he could have done. He could feel the bond between them like a thread, though usually it was at least two bites before the bond became this tangible. He could have cursed himself for taking her blood under any other pretext than that of nourishment. Of course he'd honestly thought the worst that would come of it would be heightened awareness of her presence. Well he'd gotten that and them some. He felt like he was burning and touching her was the only way to cool it. He closed his eyes and told himself it would fade, once she was gone.  
  
"We should go," he said quietly.  
  
Kara blinked at him, unable to keep a little of the hurt from her eyes. He told himself that it was down to blood and nothing more as she nodded her head slowly.  
  
"O-of course. Lead on," she answered, gesturing with her hand for him to continue. Without another word they both began to walk. 


	10. Riddles

Disclaimer: see parts 1 - 3  
  
  
  
Kara was walking slowly, hers arms wrapped around her body. Hunter was walking so close their shoulders were almost touching but she had retreated inside her thoughts. They both had. Something was bothering her to the point of distraction. Namely Hunter. Was there something wrong with her? Did she just have to do the one thing that was going to end up leaving her with a whole new list of 'what ifs' to agonise about at night when she was trying to sleep. She didn't understand it. How could such a short acquaintance make her feel this much? It's just lust, she told herself. Yup, lots of lust. It'll fade with the first attractive man I see back home.  
  
If that was true then why did the thought of going twist something inside her?  
  
Hunter walked in step beside her, his thoughts running almost parallel to her own. He'd already list all the reasons why she should leave, not least of which was Ulrich. Kara would be in immediate danger if she stayed. He repeated that over and over to himself and still he wanted to do the selfish thing and keep her. He wanted to know all there was to know about her. To know what would make her laugh and the subtlest of her expressions and what they meant.  
  
He sighed and struggled for a conversation topic, feeling like a teenager on a first date his friends had set up. "So...uh...what do you do on earth?" he asked, grasping at the first thought to float into his head.  
  
"I'm a student and I work part time in a publishing company."  
  
"That sounds...nice."  
  
Nice? He screamed at himself. What sort of response is nice?  
  
"Family?" he asked, ignoring himself.  
  
"I...don't have any," she answered matter-of-factly, thinking here comes the pity party.  
  
"Why?" was all Hunter said, not sounding at all pitying. He knew plenty of people with no family.  
  
"Well I never knew my father and my mom died when I was five in a car accident, so I don't really remember her I lived with a family friend until I was eighteen and I moved out when I went to college." He voice was still clam but then how could she really feel pain over events she didn't remember? The only sense of her mother she really had was someone warm who smelled of cinnamon and smiled a lot, but the memory was so faded and distant she could have been remembering anyone.  
  
"What about the family friend?" Hunter continued.  
  
Kara shrugged, "She moved to Australia when I was in my second year. I get letters but I never see her." She tucked some hair behind her ear. "Tell me about your life," she said. She wasn't really one for talking about herself.  
  
Hunter laughed a little, "There's not much to tell. I am the only child and heir of the Vampire King, so I more or less lived the life of a privileged, spoiled brat."  
  
"Well at least you're honest about it," she laughed. Looking around she saw they were rising to the top of a hill that seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere. Her legs were beginning to hurt. How long had she been walking anyway? Too long. Thankfully though the hill wasn't that steep and, walking in silence it wasn't long before they reached the top. Kara paused a moment to stretch a little, hoping to relieve the aches and some of the tiredness she was feeling, and to survey what lay before them. The hill was much steeper on this side. It was an almost sheer drop down into a completely different landscape from the one that had surrounded them only moments before, the contrast so vivid it was like two designers had drawn a line and said 'you can do this side and I'll do that one'. The landscape that now lay before them was darker. There were several hill-like structures scattered here and there, composed almost entirely of metal. Kara stared at it. The whole thing looked like some sort of post-apocalyptic, industrial nightmare. Here and there she could see figures moving that she assumed were people of some sort. From their perch it was kind of hard to tell.  
  
"Uh...what is that?" Kara asked.  
  
Hunter shrugged. "I've never had a reason to come this way before. You're guess is as good as mine."  
  
"I thought you knew the Labyrinth," she muttered.  
  
Again Hunter shrugged. "The only one who truly knows the Labyrinth is Jareth. You and I could spend our entire lives here and still never find every twist or hidden corner."  
  
"So what you're saying is that we have to go through there and for all we know it could be the home of ravenous flesh eating bunny rabbits?"  
  
"Flesh eating bunny rabbits?" Hunter raised and eyebrow at her.  
  
"How do you stay so calm?" she muttered, scuffing her toe against the path.  
  
"If it's...killer bunny rabbits, we can deal with it when we get down there," Hunter stated matter-of-factly. As far as he was concerned there was nothing in the Labyrinth they couldn't handle after having dealt with the werewolves.  
  
"Fine," Kara mumbled sullenly. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her feet instantly slid on the sloped surface and she fell, making the entire trip down on her backside. She landed in a heap at the bottom of the first metal structure, slamming painfully against it.  
  
"Are you ok?" asked Susan, emerging from her pocket.  
  
"I think I'll live," Kara said dryly. "You?"  
  
"Fine," Susan assured her.  
  
"Hunter?" Kara asked, not moving just yet.  
  
"Still at the top of the hill," Susan answered, scampering over the dry, cracked ground.  
  
Kara got slowly to her feet, checking that her ankles weren't about to give out on her or anything before putting her full weight on them and standing up straight. She brushed the reddish brown dust off her clothes as best she could but there were still violent streaks of it across her shirt. Sighing in defeat she looked back up the hill, watching Hunter make a slower, more cautious descent and satisfied for the moment that he was ok and not deserting her, she looked over her new surroundings. It was hot down here and just breathing the air made her thirsty.  
  
"Where are we?" she said more to herself than anything. She didn't expect an answer.  
  
Something cackled on the other side of the structure.  
  
Kara backed away from it.  
  
The cackling continued and got louder as the thing making it moved closer to them coming into sight. Susan stopped her mini exploration of the ground to run up Kara's leg, and then arm to her perch on Kara's shoulder. The thing was stopped low to the ground but it straightened as it approached Kara.  
  
It was a she and Kara would have thought her human if it weren't for the pointed ears and blue skin. She looked like she had shimmered at one point but now her colour was faded, smeared with dust and dirt. Her hair hung in a long green tangle. At least Kara thought it was green, it was a little hard to tell. She was wearing a dress that had once been silk and was now lucky to be called rags. Kara wondered if the dirt held it together because she couldn't see what else would have. She stopped cackling but her tired green eyes still held a manic gleam. She was looking right at Kara but Kara had the distinct impression she was seeing something else.  
  
"You're in the waste lands," she said, her voice as cracked and dry as the earth they stood on.  
  
"The waste lands?"  
  
The woman nodded solemnly.  
  
"Who are you?" Kara asked.  
  
The woman smiled, or rather bared her teeth in what Kara hoped was a smile. "Malia"  
  
/"Be careful."/  
  
Hunter's voice was so clear and distinct that Kara jumped and turned expecting to find him at her back, but he was only half way down the hill. She frowned, confused.  
  
Malia spoke again and Kara shifted her attention a second time. "Why are you here? Are you useless too?" then she giggled.  
  
"Useless?"  
  
"Oh yes, all the useless things end up here." Malia began nodding her head as if reaffirming the fact for herself, then she stopped abruptly and peered at Kara as if she'd just realised she was there. "Stay," she implored suddenly. "Won't you please stay?"  
  
"I can't, I have to go to the castle," Kara said as gently as she could.  
  
Malia leaned closer into her and Kara couldn't help taking a step backwards. "But it's so lonely here," Malia said as if confiding a great secret, "and if you stay well we can, we can dance until Lord Weevil makes us stop!" She clapped her hands together in delight before spinning round in a small circle. For a moment Kara thought Malia had forgotten about her but a second later she caught Kara in her arms, dragging her across the ground in some long forgotten waltz.  
  
/"I thought I said be careful!"/  
  
Kara jumped again which, for some obscure reason made Milia laugh.  
  
/"I.what? Why are you in my head?"/ Kara screamed silently at Hunter, not fully aware she was doing it.  
  
/"I'll explain later. Why are you dancing?"/  
  
/"To pass the time."/ she answered sarcastically. Hunter didn't reply, but to Kara's relief when Milia spun her round she was able to see the Hunter had at last reached the bottom of the hill and was coming towards them. Milia stopped spinning and sighed.  
  
"The clouds say you aren't one of the Forgotten Ones," she hung her head and looked so lost and abandoned that for a moment Kara almost wished she could stay.  
  
"That's right, we aren't," Hunter said coldly having finally reached them.  
  
Milia's lower lip trembled, but almost as soon as it begun it stopped and she brightened again. "You could stay for dinner," she offered. "The clouds won't mind that." She began rocking back and forth on her heels and seemed to forget them again as she began muttering to herself. "Memory chased me round the garden tree, but memory's slow and can't have me."  
  
"We...uh can't stay for dinner. We have to go. To the castle," Kara tried to explain. Hunter took her arm and started edging her away from Milia.  
  
"Wait!" Milia screeched suddenly, halting them both. "A riddle. A riddle, a riddle, a riddle. The clouds say if you can't get my riddle then you must stay! You must! Even the stars agree." She nodded her head as if everything was suddenly good and right in the world.  
  
Hunter and Kara exchanged a look. Hunter shrugged and Kara sighed.  
  
"Ok, fine. What's the riddle?" Kara asked.  
  
Milia grinned like a pleased child and sat cross legged on the ground. Then she coughed and began to speak.  
  
"I turn my head, and you may go where you want. I turn it again, you will stay till you rot. I have no face, but I live or die By my crooked teeth - who am I?"  
  
Kara stared at the girl on the ground who was smiling serenely back.  
  
"It could be a..."  
  
"Not you," Milia cried out, sounding desperately upset, cutting off what ever Hunter was about to say. "Her!"  
  
Kara bit her bottom lip and frowned. Riddles were never her strong point. It would help if she could have it written down but right now luck obviously wasn't on her side. "Turn once, go where you want...turn again, stay..."  
  
Milia began giggling and drawing pictures in the dust.  
  
Kara's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She hopped she was right. "Is it a Key?"  
  
Milia stopped drawing pictures and looked at Kara like she'd just killed her puppy. "How'd you guess?"  
  
Kara shrugged.  
  
"I was going to say that," Hunter muttered.  
  
"We can go now, right?" Kara said.  
  
Milia nodded and began to cry. She was still crying when they left.  
  
AN: Hmmm....hope that chapter came off ok. R&R and let me hear your thoughts, opinions, random babble...whatever. Oh, and I got the riddle from Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen. 


	11. One step closer

AN: Just a few quick notes before we begin. First off I actually managed to skip a whole chapter. If you would kindly look back you will see it has now been added (titled 'Killer salad?'). This is what happens when you post at 4 am. Second to Zabella, Megan, screamin_psiren and Amii, a big thanks for the reviews so far. Third to Redaura, extra big thanks for all the support, both through FF.N and in the random, sporadic moments I catch ya online. To Mandy (TopazQueen1188) it's great to hear from people who read the original (ditto to Redaura) and also I'd like to explain about the sequel. As you have no doubt noticed FF.N has a new policy banning NC-17 fics. As such 'Only in Fairy Tales' was removed and is being rewritten to comply and I will start reposting that just as soon as I am done with this one. (which shouldn't take much longer). On the wedding night, that chapter has been written (Ask Redaura if you need confirmation) and the only thing that's keeping it from being posted is of course the new policy (which I'm sure I'll find a loop hole for any day now). Ok, that's concludes the mindless babbling portion of tonight's show and now back to the studio...  
  
  
  
Having left Milia they walked quickly over the surface of the waste land, taking care to avoid the other metal structures. If they got stuck with a riddle for every one, then they'd never make it out in time.........if at all.  
  
"Well she was..." Susan began, looking for the right word.  
  
"Lonely," Kara said quietly, still feeling bad about making her cry. Hunter wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer, as if that action could keep her from all of the negative feelings.  
  
"How much further is it?" asked Susan.  
  
"Haven't a clue," Hunter answered looking around. They could see the walls of the Goblin City resting on the horizon but the distance was impossible to judge. So they walked, and kept on walking.  
  
"I'm hungry," Susan announced a moment later.  
  
Kara's stomach growled loudly. She looked down and the back up, grinning sheepishly. "Translation, me too." She looked around. Nope, no conveniently placed MacDonald's here. Damn! And they were the one thing you were supposed to be able to rely on when it came to getting food no matter what distant land you were in. then she started to giggle at the image of the Labyrinth having its own drive trough staffed by goblins. Hunter glanced over at her and started laughing too, having followed that entire train of thought.  
  
"What's so funny?" demanded Susan.  
  
Kara shook her head. "Never mind," she mumbled.  
  
The landscape was changing again. Tufts of yellow grass began appearing in the cracks and before they had gone too far, the ground beneath them was becoming green and springy once more. The air was cooler too and Kara didn't even want to begin trying to explain how everything could change so rapidly and so definatley.  
  
The walls of the city were closer now.  
  
Kara sighed.  
  
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked. The bond between them should have let him know what was wrong without words but right now Kara had raised a shield. It wasn't intentional, he knew, because she wasn't even aware their was a bond much less how to shut him out of her thoughts, but often in times of stress walls are erected subconsciously. He frowned at her.  
  
"Nothing," she lied and managed to keep herself from sighing again. She was almost at the castle, had almost made it. And when she got there she would go in, save Arron, go home and forget. See simple, or it aught to be. Besides, she scolded herself, how can a relationship with a vampire from another world be healthy? How can a relationship with a vampire be healthy, period?  
  
They found a winding road and stepped on to it, each lost to their own thoughts.  
  
Kara's mind was in turmoil. Go home, forget, she kept repeating it like a mantra and while, on one hand, she knew she should do exactly that there was still a huge part of her that wanted to stay. She wanted to see what Hunter's kingdom was like. Maybe she could stay an extra week? Have a sort of vacation? Or maybe a month? Or maybe just forever? She wondered what would happen if she sat right here on the road and refused to move until the thirteen hours were up? It's not like Arron was that important anyway.  
  
Ok, bad thought, she told herself. You made a mess, so fix it. She sighed and kept moving. Yes Arron was an ass but despite that she'd never seriously meant for him to become a goblin.  
  
Then she stopped suddenly as a new thought came into her head. "Hunter, how do we get through the gates once we get to them?" she asked, remembering the fight with the gate keeper in the movie.  
  
"Just leave it up to me," Hunter beamed not-so-reassuringly at her. Kara shrugged. Not the answer she'd wanted to hear. She'd wanted something more along the lines of 'oh well, guess we'll never get to the castle. May as well sit here until the thirteen hours are up.' It wouldn't be such a bad thing if she could blame it on someone else, right? She could picture it now. 'Gee Arron, sorry you're a goblin now but y'see there was this gate keeper and he said we couldn't come into the city to save you so what could we do?'  
  
Yeah, right, and her house was made of marzipan.  
  
She resumed walking, musing quietly to herself.  
  
"Why do you think Jareth let you come with me?" she asked suddenly. "If you know you're way around, isn't that cheating?" Yey, see it was all Jareth's fault. Well if it weren't for Jareth she'd never have met Hunter in the first place.  
  
"Technically its not cheating, no, since I'm not one of Jareth's subjects and I don't think there's a rule that says you can't seek outside assistance. Besides if this boss of yours is so much of a pain you wished him away then maybe he's giving Jareth hell and he wants you to come and collect as soon as possible."  
  
Kara shrugged. She was going to blame Jareth anyway. She'd work out the full argument as to why it was all his fault later. Right now it simply was.  
  
Hunter wrapped and arm casually around her shoulders and had to fight not to crush her to him as the gates loomed before them, casting a shadow over the small party. The symbolysim wasn't lost on any of them.  
  
Kara gazed up at the high metal monstrosities that kept the city safe from invasion and wayward babysitters. Hunter squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"So what now 007?" she asked.  
  
"What?" Hunter asked, puzzled.  
  
"Never mind. How do we get in?"  
  
"By doing this," he answered pulling her behind a low stone wall. In the process she fell over, knocking them both to the ground and she found herself lying on top of him. "Um." she began, slightly embarrassed, "Not that I'm complaining but how does this help?"  
  
"Well...we...uh...oh hell," he whispered. He pulled her down against him and his lips crushed against hers. After a moments hesitation, Kara let her eyes close and returned the kiss, putting every ounce of passion, desire and pain into it that she could. Her mind opened up to his like a flower and they tumbled together in the dark and kept on falling, each loosing themselves to the other. Hunter rolled over, pining her body beneath his on the soft ground, moving his lips from her mouth to her throat, tracing his tongue over the wound that still remained form the forest, drinking her down in all but the last possible way. His mouth trailed along the skin exposed by the opening of her shirt and then retraced its path back to her mouth. Her hand were buried in his hair and she held him against her, trying to keep the moment, willing time to stop. For them. For a moment.  
  
The shrill sound of someone whistling cut through the air and straight through the hope that maybe the Powers That Be might be generous for a second or two.  
  
"Hunter..." she gasped, her immediate thought being, what now?  
  
"Shush!" He said quietly. Moving slowly and reluctantly away from her to crouch behind the wall and watch the approach of a lone goblin that was wandering along the path towards the city. Hunter was poised and ready in an instant and when the goblin was near enough, he stepped out from behind the wall. Kara understood without being told that she should stay where she was. Which was a good thing because with the lingering impression of Hunter's mouth on hers and the ghost echoes of him in her mind, she wasn't sure she trusted herself to stand.  
  
"Hello," Hunter greeted the goblin, pleasantly enough.  
  
The goblin stopped abruptly, noticing Hunter for the first time. He looked him up and down before saying, in a thin, scratchy and rather unimpressed voice, "What do you want?"  
  
Kara wasn't sure if the goblin was male or female.  
  
"Well actually." Hunter began, but didn't finish because he lunged for the goblin mid-sentence. It never had a chance to react before Hunter was holding it in the air by its long, hooked nose. "You are going to help us get into the city, little friend," he informed his captive with a chilling smile. 


	12. Into the city

Firstly Happy Birthday Mandy!!! I hope this is up to scratch.  
  
Secondly screamin_psiren, good point. I addressed it in this chapter and made a slight amendment to the last. Just for you (^_~)  
  
Lastly, a big, big, big thank you to all my loyal readers and reviewers. Where would I be without you guys? Well maybe asleep instead of posting at 5 am to make y'all happy but that wouldn't be any fun now would it. (^_~) Enjoy!  
  
  
  
The goblin shrieked and kicked in Hunter's grasp but it was far too small too get close, never mind do any real damage. Hunter looked bored at first but after a minute or so had passed and the goblin was still struggling he gave up on the patient approach and snarled at the goblin, baring his fangs. The goblin stopped what it was doing rather abruptly.  
  
"Much better," Hunter said pleasantly.  
  
Now that the little spectacle was over, Kara emerged from behind the wall, pausing to bend over and retrieve Susan when the frantic squeaks reminded her she was there. She coloured slightly as it dawned on her what it must be like from the mouse every time she and Hunter threw themselves at each other. She must have got crushed in the forest, Kara thought with horror as she placed Susan gently on her shoulder.  
  
"Now," Hunter was saying to the goblin. "We need to get into the city."  
  
"What's that got to do with me?" the goblin demanded.  
  
"You are going to take us in," Hunter answered as if explaining something to a very small child.  
  
"How am I supposed to do that then?" it demanded.  
  
Kara looked at Hunter expectantly.  
  
"You are going to walk with us to the gate and you are going to tell the gate keeper that we have business at the castle and that you are our escort. Is that clear?"  
  
The goblin didn't answer right away so Hunter shook it a little. "Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes sir," it squeaked. "Please let go of me nose!"  
  
Hunter dropped the goblin rather unceremoniously on the road. "If you try anything, you'll be dead before you know what's happening. Do we understand one another?"  
  
"Yes sir," it answered again.  
  
Kara felt almost sorry for it as it scurried to resume its walk, staying a few paces ahead of them.  
  
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" She asked Hunter.  
  
He shrugged. "You have to be harsh with goblins otherwise they never do a damn thing you say."  
  
"No?"  
  
"No. They'd just laugh and then maybe hurt you, at the very least they'd torment you."  
  
"Oh," was all Kara could think to say. Hunter took her hand and they followed the goblin in silence to the gates.  
  
"Who's there?" demanded a voice from the top.  
  
"Name's Dill. I'm supposed to escort these two to the castle," he told the gate keeper jerking a thumb back at Hunter and Kara.  
  
"There's three of them," said the gate keeper.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You forgot Susan," Kara whispered.  
  
"Who?" the goblin demanded.  
  
"The mouse. On my shoulder," Kara answered, pointing.  
  
"Oh fine. These three then!" he yelled up to the gate keeper. The gate keeper shrugged and with a metallic shriek the gates began to swing open.  
  
"Come right through!" the gate keeper shouted.  
  
The goblin went through first and Kara shrugged and followed, Hunter in step beside her. Once through they both began to run, leaving the goblin behind.  
  
"Aren't you meant to go with them?" asked the gate keeper.  
  
The goblin shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be fine," he answered and sauntered off in a different direction.  
  
***  
  
Jareth was lounging across his throne when one of the goblins came rushing into the room. Tripping over his own feet he landed in a heap on the floor at Jareth's feet.  
  
"Sir...the girl!"  
  
"What of her?" Jareth enquired, sounding decidedly bored.  
  
"She's through the gates...nearly at the castle!" the goblin answered fearfully.  
  
"Thank god for that!" Jareth exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I was beginning to think she would never get here!"  
  
"Right so I'll gather some troops and we'll..." the goblin trailed off as what his King had said penetrated his brain. "Wait, you don't want us to..."  
  
"No, of course I don't," Jareth said, annoyance plain in his voice. "I can't wait till she gets here and I can get rid of that oaf!" He said, indicating the heap on the far side of the room that was Arron. "Now go away!" He told the rather confused goblin, who quickly scurried out of the room.  
  
***  
  
Kara paused to glance at a clock on the side of a tower, yanking Hunter to a stop beside her. An hour and a half to reach the castle and...well do whatever she would have to do there. An hour and a half before she would leave Hunter.  
  
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked, noting her shield had just been flung up again. Forcing him away from her mind.  
  
"It's nothing," she answered and smiled weakly. "I was just checking the time."  
  
"Oh..." was all that Hunter said.  
  
"Do we have to run?" She asked looking around. "I mean it's not as if anyone is actually trying to stop us."  
  
"No, I guess...I guess there's no sense in rushing," Hunter answered her quietly, something odd flashing in the depths of his eyes. Kara swallowed the lump in her throat and turned away. She began walking and Hunter followed. Susan looked at them both from her perch and said nothing.  
  
They approached the castle and Kara looked at it slightly awed. "It's, its jus...wow," she said unable to find the right words.  
  
Hunter smiled faintly, "You should see where I live," he told her his voice tinged with pride.  
  
Kara glanced at him but didn't say anything. They walked straight through the castle gates and Hunter looked warily around. "Your boss must be a major pain in the ass," he remarked quietly.  
  
"He is," Kara answered with a small shrug.  
  
"So why are you rescuing him?"  
  
Kara shrugged again. "I couldn't leave him. It wouldn't have been right. Fun, but not right."  
  
Hunter nodded, leading her up a long flight of stairs. They passed closed doors and empty rooms. The whole castle was eerily quiet. Half way up the second flight of stairs Kara asked, "Where are we going?"  
  
"Throne room," Hunter told her. "Seems like the logical choice."  
  
"How do you know where the throne room is?" she asked though she suspected she already knew the answer.  
  
"I've been here before," Hunter told her.  
  
He led her up another two flights of stairs and down a long corridor until they found themselves standing outside a set of huge double doors, made of dark wood.  
  
"This is it," Hunter told her. His words sounded chillingly final.  
  
She nodded her head and straightened her shoulders, resolved to walk in and do what she had to do. She was going to kill whoever had given her a conscience. She'd just decided it was their fault. If she didn't have one she would never have come into the Labyrinth and wouldn't be facing saying goodbye to the man she loved. Wait did I just say loved, she thought. Then she smiled sadly. What was the point of pretending she didn't? She'd never believed in love at first sight, nor had she believed people could fall in love in a matter of hours but then she'd never really believed in the Labyrinth in the first place, and here she was. Something in her had been drawn to Hunter from the first and that something was insisting that she shouldn't leave him. Suppressing a sigh she pushed the thought aside. She would save Arron first. Then she'd deal with this.  
  
She took a step towards the door, but Hunter grabbed her arm preventing her from moving. She turned to face him and the kiss was swift and hard. She clung to him, her resolve almost crumbling then and there but he released her. A small gasp of surprise escaped her lips and she stood looking at him bewildered for a moment and finding it incredibly difficult to get her body to turn and walk through the doors to the throne room. Sensing her indecision Hunter took her hand and they approached them together.  
  
Kara reached out with her free hand and pushed at the doors. The swung inwards silently and revealed a marble hall, bare save for the red carpet, sparkling with glitter and an imposing black throne at the far end.  
  
Jareth was lounging across the throne, waiting for them.  
  
Hunter squeezed her hand before wordlessly releasing it. He reached up and Susan scampered from her shoulder to his hand and he moved away from her, indicating she had to do this little bit without them by her side. Kara straightened some more and squared her shoulders. Looking a lot like someone who was about to do battle she walked with purpose to the throne and gazed at Jareth, who remained unfazed. He stared coolly down at her, tapping his riding crop absently against his thigh.  
  
She took a deep breath and said the only thing that would come to mind. "Um...through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...." she began but Jareth cut her off with a wave of his hand.  
  
"There's no need, I've already sent him back." Kara's jaw nearly hit the ground. "How on earth do you get through a day without killing that man? You really should have let me turn him into a goblin, you know or at least I could have tossed him in an oubliette." Jareth was smirking now.  
  
"Oh," Kara said feeling quite deflated. She looked around, feeling decidedly lost. Shouldn't that have taken longer? "Well.um.I guess I should go." She glanced at Hunter but quickly looked away again without meeting his eyes. She didn't want to see what was in them. She hadn't expected this moment to come so quickly. She wanted more time. She blinked and turned around slowly. Facing Hunter though still not quite meeting his eyes.  
  
"Well...um...goodbye...I guess," her voice was little more than a whisper and she realised she was trying very hard not to cry. Hunter reached up a hand to caress her face but stopped himself before he actually touched her, his hand fell away and he couldn't look at her anymore. She turned away from them both and looked back at Jareth. Waiting.  
  
"Go back down the hall, you'll see a large black door. If you walk through it you will find yourself back in your office," he told her not unkindly.  
  
"Thanks," her voice came out slightly trembling. She walked to the door of the throne room and paused, turning back to Jareth, "If I ever change my mind and decide he is too much of an ass to deal with."  
  
"Just say the words," Jareth promised her.  
  
"Thanks," her eyes flicked to Hunter but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring resolutely at the wall. Ask me to stay, a small voice whispered in side her head but when she saw he wasn't going to say anything she turned and walked out of the door, a few steps into the hall, her tears began to run freely down her cheeks. Something tore inside of her and she leaned against the wall and sobbed. She was leaving something in that room that she was going to need to go on living. She stayed like that for a long time. 


	13. Broken hearts and journey's end

A/N: At last its here. Y'all can thank Mandy for that. As always please R&R and a major, huge, mammoth thank you to all my loyal readers and especially the ones who review!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Labyrinth, etc, etc...  
  
  
  
Hunter gasped and touched a hand to his chest as if there was a physical pain there. In away there almost was. Kara was in pain. A deep down, soul hurt and it was his fault.  
  
It will fade, he told himself sternly. Feeding from her was the worst possible thing you could have done. Something wrenched inside him again and he balled some of the material of his shirt in his fist, wondering if he would die the moment she walked through the door and left him or if it would be slower than that? He was burning for her, aching to have her back and he didn't know how he would get through each and every day missing her.  
  
Jareth came forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
Hunter looked up, eyes narrowed. The last thing he wanted now was sympathy.  
  
"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Jareth almost nonchalantly.  
  
"It will fade," he hissed. "She doesn't need the life I will give her."  
  
"And she needs the pain she feels right now?" Jareth asked arching an eyebrow coldly. "Don't start pulling the broody Anne Rice I'm-a-vampire-and- can-never-know-love bullshit with me."  
  
Hunter almost smiled. "It's just blood." He didn't sound like he had convinced himself.  
  
"It's deeper than that and you know it," Jareth stated, resisting the urge to personally knock some sense into Hunter. "And if you let her go I will personally toss you head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench," he added quietly.  
  
The violet flecks in Hunters eyes began to grow, bleeding in to the blue and staining them with purple fire. "What right have you to interfere," he hissed.  
  
Jareth smirked slightly, "Besides the fact that I'm King here and these are my lands so I can pretty much do what I want?"  
  
"Yes," Hunter muttered, "besides that."  
  
"Because," Jareth said, visibly softening, "I know love when I see it, and you, of all people, should realise she's as much in love with you as you are with her. I'm not even bonded to the girl and I can see it."  
  
Hunter regarded Jareth through narrowed eyes, clearly hesitating. "You on the other hand can *feel it*, so tell me is it really worth letting her walk away?"  
  
"No," Hunter whispered. He was loosing his heart and feeling every centaury long second of the process.  
  
"Then go," Jareth said firmly.  
  
Hunter straightened and looked at the doors of the throne room, then back at Jareth.  
  
"Now!"  
  
Hunter ran, pausing just long enough at the door to set Susan gently down on the floor.  
  
"Well it's about damn time," the little mouse said. Jareth began laughing.  
  
"You know I honestly thought they'd figure it out before now," he told Susan.  
  
Susan shook her head. "He's too stubborn and she has no idea what happened to her."  
  
Jareth smirked, "Should be fun when she finds out."  
  
Kara was crouched against the wall, trying desperately to stem the flow of tears and make the pain go away, or at least ignore it enough to keep walking. It was hard. It shouldn't be this hard. She swiped at the tears, feeling like she couldn't breathe.  
  
He doesn't want me, she screamed at herself, and I will crawl to that door if I have to but I will not lie here in a pathetic little heap feeling sorry for myself! Well that was the theory anyway; actually putting it into practice was proving far more difficult.  
  
He doesn't want me, she reminded herself.  
  
"That isn't true," he said softly behind her.  
  
She sniffled, then hiccupped, then cursed herself for being so pathetic. Hunter look at her huddled on the floor and realised he had done it to her. It was his fault she hurt so much and that was worse than anything he had been put through so far. He dropped down behind her, pulling her back into his arms and half onto his lap. He rocked her gently, wiping the tears away with his thumb. ~It's not true~ he repeated telepathically.  
  
~How do you keep doing that?~ she asked. ~More to the point how do I keep doing it?~  
  
~Remember the forest?~ his lips took over from his fingers and she sighed, the tears already slowing, becoming less. She was safe here. It was safe and good and right.  
  
~yes?~  
  
His lips closed over hers, he couldn't help it and one of the advantages of telepathic communication was that it wasn't hindered by the action. ~When I drank from you it...forged a bond between us.~  
  
She started, jerking in his arms. ~you mean all of this...the way I'm feeling...it was just because...~  
  
~shhh...no. It just heightened our awareness of it. If I hadn't fed from you, you would have walked away. We both would have and we would have been able to get on with our lives. I'm sorry.~  
  
~For what?~  
  
~For not being able to live without you. I love you.~  
  
Her hands clutched his shirt and she broke their kiss. She looked up at him, staring into his eyes for a long time. So long a time that Hunter began to fear what she would say when she did speak.  
  
"I love you too," she whispered.  
  
"Stay with me?" he pleaded quietly. Her fingers touched his cheek, traced the line of his jaw. "How could I leave?"  
  
His mouth found hers again and this time only the need for air pushed them apart.  
  
"Should we tell Jareth," Kara asked, smiling. The ache inside her was already fading, leaving nothing more than a memory in its wake.  
  
"Which part?" Hunter asked mischievously, "That you're going to marry me or that we are going to name our first son after him? This is, after all, all his fault."  
  
Kara laughed, and then pretended to consider what he had said. "Both," she said after a moment. "Let's tell him both."  
  
Grinning Hunter stood, lifting Kara to her feet as he did so. "Are you sure?"  
  
"I have honestly never been as sure of anything in my life as I am of you," she answered him honestly.  
  
They linked arms and walked back to the throne room. Grinning like high school lovers as they stumbled through the doors, too intent on each other to notice where their feet went. The laughed and simultaneously turned to Jareth.  
  
He looked at them and said, "Damn!"  
  
"What?" asked Hunter raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Susan won they bet," Jareth answered.  
  
"Yey, go me!" squeaked Susan.  
  
"What bet?" Hunter asked suspiciously.  
  
"How long it would take both of you to come back here," Susan answered. "Jareth thought it would take you much longer."  
  
"Oh, really," was all Hunter said, grinning at Jareth.  
  
"Well?" Jareth demanded.  
  
"We're getting married," Kara said, sounding as if she didn't quite believe her good luck.  
  
"Aha!" Jareth exclaimed. "I win that bet!"  
  
"Darn," Susan pouted  
  
"I'll get someone to saddle the horses then," Jareth said.  
  
"Why?" asked Kara.  
  
"So you can ride off into the sunset of course," he smirked at her, then he left.  
  
Kara and Hunter smiled at each other.  
  
"So, is this happy ever after?" Kara asked.  
  
"I certainly hope not," Hunter said still grinning, "where would be the fun in that?" 


	14. Final note

A/N: Like it? I hope so. I personally think it was better this time round. A big huge thanks to everyone who helped with this, especially Redaura for the encouragement and TopazQueen1188 for the yelling (^_~) Probably wouldn't have done it without you guys!  
  
And now for the shameless self-promotion: Go check out the sequel, "Only in Fairy Tales" (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1060969) and don't forget to review (^_~) 


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